Spellzone is wicked!

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Have you ever felt out of touch when diachronic change means that words you thought you knew take on a new, antonymous meaning?

Words like this come in and out of popularity every year, but their altered meanings can remain for a long time and sometimes deciding which meaning is intended can be confusing.

For example, the word ‘wicked’, historically meaning cruel or evil has adopted a new usage in popular culture and is often used to describe something that is cool or excellent. The same can be said of the words: ‘sick’, ‘nasty’, ‘dirty’ amongst others. Informal English has changed so much over time that even the word ‘bad’ can mean the very opposite.

The phenomenon of a single word having two opposite meanings is by no means new…

When two words share the same spelling they are known as ‘homographs’. Homographs that can also mean their opposites are known as ‘autantonyms’ or ‘contranyms’.

Left’ could mean ‘remaining’ or ‘gone

Clip’ could mean ‘attach’ or ‘remove

Rent’ could mean to ‘borrow from’ or ‘lend to

Can you think of any more examples of ‘autantonyms’ - words with dual-meanings which really confuse you?

Hugh MacDermott


10 Sep 2014
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One of the students has put in a huge amount of effort in completing Spellzone at least 3 times a week since his arrival with us in January. Looking at his scores after the latest GL testing, his standardised score has risen from 99 to 131. This is a truly phenomenal result. I just wanted to share the best result I have ever seen.

Terrie Penrose-Toms, Casterton College

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